


Dark And Mysterious

by zurzavaravar



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, For the most part, Missing Scene, and some background Riarkle, but will have some Rucas in it because it follows season 1 canon, contains missing scenes, this is a Lucaya fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-01 18:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13301136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zurzavaravar/pseuds/zurzavaravar
Summary: Basically season 1 from Lucas' POV. With some missing scenes.The main pairing is Lucaya, even though the story will follow canon for the most part.  May be canon divergent later.





	1. Girl Meets World - Part 1.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so this is my first GMW fic, as well as my first fic posted here, so I'd really appreciate some feedback, even if it's constructive criticism. I have school and exams, so I don't know how regularly I can update this, but I'll try my best.  
> Also, you will probably recognize most of the dialogue from the show, as this will follow canon pretty closely, with the exceptions of some missing scenes.
> 
> I don't remember exactly what we learn about Lucas' past in the show, so I took some creative liberties with that.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally planned on posting one chapter for each episode, but it was starting to get too long, so I divided the episode up into more chapters.  
> I'm probably going to do this with all episodes, if the chapters are long enough.

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except some OCs and added scenes. The storylines and characters belong to Michael Jacobs and April Kelly, Disney, and the people who worked on Girl Meets World._

***

The subway was dirty, loud and overcrowded, filled with masses of people rushing to work in the morning. When he stepped inside the car, Lucas was instantly hit by the smell of sweat, mixed with some strange odor he couldn’t identify. The people already inside stood only inches away from one another, packed in like sardines. Then, the car jerked forward, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing into a tall, unfriendly-looking man in a grey suit, who glared at him disapprovingly until he managed to stand back up again, grabbing a pole and holding on for dear life. He was eternally grateful when an old woman stood up at the next stop, leaving her empty seat behind. He threw himself down into the seat and sighed.

His mom had to go to a job interview that morning, but she was worried about letting him go on the subway alone on the first day of school. It had taken about twenty minutes of trying to convince her that everything would be fine, promising that he’d message her when he got there, and swearing on Pappy Joe’s beard to call her if anything happened to him, but eventually she gave in, pressed some money into his hand for lunch and kissed him goodbye, ignoring his loud protests, then hurried out the door. He decided not to tell her that he almost got lost twice and nearly missed his train.

If he remembered the directions his new teacher, Mr. Matthews, had given his mom correctly, he would still be sitting there for a while. He might as well spend his time doing something useful. He took out his geography book from his bag; it would keep his mind occupied, but he wouldn’t get so lost in it as to miss the announcement of his stop. He had only read the first three sentences of the chapter when he suddenly had the feeling he was being watched. He glanced up to see a short, blonde girl, wearing a studded leather vest and an AC/DC T-shirt and looking at him appraisingly.

Next to her stood a slightly taller, brown-haired girl, staring at him with a bit of a goofy smile. It was the first time anyone had smiled at him since he and his mom had arrived in New York three days ago. It helped to lessen his anxiety a little about his new situation, and he found himself smiling back at her honestly. He peered over at the blonde, who held his gaze, a small smile playing on her lips and a mischievous glint in her eyes. For some reason, the look in her eyes made him feel self-conscious so he quickly looked away and turned back to his book.

Just after he finished reading the fourth sentence, Lucas heard a girl’s voice. Her voice was high, but just enough to sound sweet, not annoying.

“Hi, I’m Maya.” He glanced up to see the blonde girl standing in front of him. Before he could open his mouth to say something, she continued, without a moment’s pause. “You’re really cute. We should hang out sometime.” She sat down next to him. “You make me happy. You don’t pay enough attention to me. This isn’t working out.” She stood back up again. “It’s you, not me. We can still be friends – not really.”

With that, she walked back over to her friend, leaving him to wonder what just happened. This was definitely the strangest thing that’s ever happened to him, even stranger than the time Zay showed up at his doorstep one Halloween dressed as a hamster, with a huge fake belly and pieces of string glued to his face as his whiskers – the girl he was crushing on at the time, Norma Jean, was obsessed with hamsters, and Zay thought this would make her fall madly in love with him. Needless to say, it didn’t work out.

Lucas’ eyebrows furrowed as he contemplated what the girl had just said to him. Her name was Maya – it was a cute name, and it fit the tiny girl perfectly, with her heart-shaped face, sparkling blue eyes and curly blonde hair. She had called him cute – which was good, but… He didn’t really know what to do with everything else she was saying. She seemed to be acting out a whole relationship with him, in about ten seconds – but why?

Well, whatever she was doing, she had intrigued him. Lucas put his book away; he couldn’t possibly get his brain to think about geography after that. He felt a burning need to find out more about this girl – Maya. He looked towards where she had gone, just in time to see the brown-haired girl, screaming and about to crash into him. He reached out and grabbed her before her head could hit the wall, securing her in his lap.

She looked at him with an awkward smile, which made him smile back at her in return.

“Hi. We were just talking about you. You used to go out with my friend Maya.”

She glanced in the direction of the blonde and he followed her gaze. The girl was looking at the two of them with raised eyebrows and an amused expression on her face. She gave her friend an encouraging smile. When she noticed him looking at her, she nodded towards the brunette. So that’s what she was doing: she was trying to set him up with her friend.

Grinning at the realization, he turned back to the girl sitting on his lap. She wasn’t really his type, she looked too much like a perfect, goody two-shoes kind of girl. But, he supposed, maybe she should have been his type. After all, his not-so-perfect behavior was the main reason his mom had decided to upend their life in Texas and move closer to her sister in New York.

He offered her his hand.

“I’m Lucas.”

“I love it,” she said, still smiling. Her voice was slightly higher than her friend’s. She climbed off of his lap to sit in the space between him and the wall, just as a tall lady approached.

“Perhaps someone would like to give their seat to someone older?” He immediately made to stand up – his mama had raised him to be a gentleman, even if he didn’t always act like it. “Oh, not you, sweet potato pie,” she said, and looked at the girl sitting next to him. The brunette stood up and leaned in close, talking to the woman in a quiet voice. He didn’t catch what she said, but heard the woman’s answer.

“I just worked a twelve-hour shift and I just wanna see where this goes. Mmm-kay?”

“Mmm-kay,” the brunette answered in a disappointed tone. She had probably wanted to stay there with him, but she drooped her head down and walked back to her friend, allowing the woman to sit down.

Before Lucas had time to take his book out of his bag, the brown-haired girl was falling towards them again, screaming, and landed on the woman’s lap. Without missing a beat, the woman lifted her and put her on his thighs.

“It’s for you.”

The girl gave him a shy, awkward smile. For the third time today, he found himself smiling back at her. He couldn’t help it. She was like a big ball of sunshine and rainbows, always filled with happiness and energy, as if all the bad things in the world had just passed her by, or never even existed in the first place. Even when she was embarrassed, she had a warm, friendly, happy aura around her.

He decided he definitely wanted to get to know her better; she seemed like just the type of person he needed in his life right now. Her being friends with the blonde girl, Maya, was an added bonus.

“Hi,” he said to her, trying to break the awkward silence that had settled down around them.

“Hi.”

After that, they had ended up having a pretty good conversation. He found out that her name was Riley, she was thirteen years old, she lived in an apartment near Central Park with her parents and her younger brother, Auggie, she loved Red Planet Diaries and has seen every episode so far, and Maya was her best friend.

He barely managed to get a word in while she talked, but he didn’t mind. It was nice to just listen to her explain things to him, in that slightly overdramatic way he figured she did everything, with animated hand gestures and all her emotions showing clearly on her face. He didn’t know how long they had been talking before Maya came over and smiled at him in a way that made his heart beat a little faster, like he had just singlehandedly saved the world, while rescuing kids from a burning orphanage at the same time.

That smile gave him an inexplicable sense of pride and accomplishment, and in that moment, he felt like he would give or do anything just to have her smile at him like that again. His brain felt fuzzy and for a second he couldn’t breathe. He was barely aware of the blonde waving at him before nudging the brunette with her elbow. Riley, who seemed to have reverted back to the shy embarrassment that had radiated off of her before, when she had fallen into his lap, muttered a quick goodbye, then Maya had grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside through the opening door.

He sat there for a few moments, looking after the two girls dumbly. Only after the doors closed, and he heard the voice of the lady from the speakers, did he realize that he had missed his stop. He was going to have to run if he didn’t want to be late.

***

Mr. Matthews’ directions only included that one route from the subway to the school, so after he finally managed to get off the train and find his way out of the subway, he realized, standing in the middle of a busy street, that he didn’t know which way to go. That led to him desperately trying to find a person nice enough – or at least, not busy enough – that they would actually stop walking when he spoke to them, asking for directions.

In Texas, he was sure he wouldn’t have needed to talk to more than three people (at most) for one of them to tell him where to go. In New York, apparently, everyone was in a hurry. But, after about ten minutes, he finally succeeded.

His savior was an old lady, shuffling along the street with three shopping bags in her hand. He asked her if she needed help and he’d ended up walking next to her, carrying her bags, until she pointed at a small house on the side of the street, took out her keys and opened the door. Lucas stepped inside and carefully placed the bags on the floor. She smiled at him gratefully.

“Thank you, young man. You don’t realize how old you’ve gotten until you have trouble walking to the grocery stop at the end of the street and carrying your bags home.”

“It was no trouble, ma’am.”

“Ah, you’re too polite! What’s your name?”

“Lucas, ma’am.”

“Well, Lucas, would you like to come in? I could make you some tea, I still have…” She glanced at her watch. “…half an hour before I have to go pick up my granddaughter.” She glanced at her watch again. “Aren’t you going to be late for school? It’s almost 8 o’clock.”

After Lucas explained what had happened, she grabbed a pen from the kitchen table. 

“Well, why didn’t you say anything?” she asked, then quickly scribbled down the directions to John Quincy Adams Middle School on a napkin, handing it over.

“There you go, young man. And don’t worry, I’ve gotten lost plenty of times in the first few weeks after I’ve moved here with my late husband, Brian, but after a while, you get used to it,” she said, with a wistful smile. “Now, make sure you get to school on time, you don’t want to be late on your first day! We’ll have tea another time.”

“Definitely, ma’am. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And good luck, Lucas. I’m sure you’ll make friends easily.”

“I hope so, ma’am.”

“Ah, stop calling me that, it makes me feel like I’m eighty years old, and I’ll only be seventy-five in December. Just call me Sally.”

“Alright, ma… Sally.” Lucas smiled at her. She laughed and shook her head.

“Well, don’t just stand there, hurry up. I’m sure we’ll meet again. Goodbye, Lucas.”

“Goodbye, Sally. And thank you again.” She just gave a wave of her hand.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome. Go away.”

Lucas was grinning all the way to school, following the directions on the napkin. First Maya and Riley, and now, Sally – maybe New York wouldn’t be as bad as he thought it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucas would be the type to always call people "lady" and "ma'am" and "sir" :D


	2. Girl Meets World - Part 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read, left kudos and bookmarked this story! :)  
> I'm mostly done with my exams, I just have two left, then hopefully none until May. But I probably failed them all because I spent more time writing than I spent studying... which is also the reason I decided to post longer chapters, starting with this one. Hope you enjoy!

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except some OCs and added scenes. The storylines and characters belong to Michael Jacobs and April Kelly, Disney, and the people who worked on Girl Meets World._

***

The lady at the reception was very nice and understanding. She handed him his timetable and told him where he needed to go. His first lesson was history with Mr. Matthews, in Room 18 on the first floor. He followed her directions and turned left after the reception desk, onto a long corridor. Thankfully, the school didn’t seem too big – it would be easy to find his way around it. As he was told, he walked towards the third door on the right.

Reaching the door, he stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. This was it. These people didn’t know who he was. They hadn’t heard the tales about Lucas the Bad, the boy who broke Jamie Smith’s nose in 5th grade and Colin Tilney’s arm in 7th. The boy who had been kicked out of school.

This was his chance to reinvent himself, to become someone else entirely. Someone who people didn’t whisper about behind his back, and didn’t avoid in the corridors. Someone who wouldn’t disappoint his mom, or Pappy Joe. He needed to make a good first impression.

He reached to open the door. The teacher – presumably Mr. Matthews – was already talking about something as he walked in. He immediately turned to Lucas.

“Who are you? I don’t know who you are.”

He didn’t seem like most teachers, stuck up and formal, more like the casual, easy-going type. Lucas didn’t allow himself to be fazed by the question or the curious eyes of the other students on him.

“I’m Lucas Friar. From Austin, Texas.” He handed over the slip of paper that his mom had signed and put in his backpack that morning.

“Oh. New student, Mr. Friar?” Mr. Matthews took the note but didn’t read it, only glancing at it briefly. His mom had kept her maiden name, even after marrying his dad, which was probably the reason Mr. Matthews didn’t instantly recognize him as the son of the woman who had called him the previous day, asking for directions.

“Yes, sir,” he said politely, deciding that he didn’t need to explain things to him – he was a teacher, after all, he was smart enough to figure it out.

“Great, you’re just in time for today’s assignment. Have a seat.” He gestured towards the only empty seat in the class.

Lucas didn’t feel bad about being in time to get the assignment, he was just glad that Mr. Matthews diverted the other students’ attention away from him. He quickly sat down in his new seat, right behind a brown-haired girl. There was already a history textbook on his desk. The girl turned back in her seat, staring at him – it was the girl from the subway, Riley.

She was smiling at him again – he smiled back.

“Okay, so we…” Mr. Matthews stopped, walked over to Riley, and grabbed the top of her head, turning her back towards the front of the class. He continued as if nothing happened.

“So, I’d like you guys to open your books to page 48.”

Mr. Matthews’ request was followed by the sound of pages turning. Before Lucas could even reach page 48, Mr. Matthews spoke again.

“Now, I’d like you to turn to page one.”

Yup, he definitely was unlike most teachers. Lucas didn’t understand what Mr. Matthews could’ve wanted with this, but flipped over to page one anyway. If he wanted to make a good first impression, arguing with the teacher’s instructions certainly wasn’t the way to do it, however strange they might have been.

“Now, I’d like you to read from page one to 48.”

Well, at least that mystery was solved, Lucas thought. While everyone else groaned at the prospect of reading that much on the first day, Lucas just looked around the class. He didn’t mind reading and history was one of the subjects he was good at. The boy sitting on his right was the only one who didn’t look annoyed – instead, he was grinning widely, like the mere thought of gaining 48 pages’ worth of knowledge excited and fascinated him.

Lucas made a mental note to talk to the boy later. He seemed to like history, which meant they had something on common. If Lucas didn’t manage to make any friends in other ways, maybe they could hit it off based on that.

“Ah, too bad on you,” said Mr. Matthews sarcastically, obviously not bothered by the lack of enthusiasm from the class. “Okay, so for tonight’s assignment, I’d like you to write me a three-page essay on anything, anything at all, that you guys believe in so strongly, you’d fight for it.”

Lucas had already started thinking about possible themes for his essay. Maybe he could write about animal rights. Pappy Joe hated the way most factories treated animals – that was part of the reason he became a rancher: on his own ranch, with his own, well-kept animals, he could produce everything he needed at home, and he didn’t have to pay money to corporations that participated in animal cruelty. He had always taught Lucas that if people used animals for their own good, the least they could do was to treat them with decency.

“That!”

At first, he barely heard her voice, too lost in his own thoughts.

“I’d fight for no homework.” He glanced towards the source of the familiar voice, and saw Maya, sitting in the seat next to Riley’s. From the angle at which she sat from him, her face was hidden from his view by her beautiful, blonde, long curly hair.

“I come here every day, why can’t you teach me everything I need to know while I’m here?”

Her voice was rising in volume as she spoke, and she was starting to make bigger gestures with her hands.

“Whoo!” Riley exclaimed excitedly. Then, looking at Mr. Matthews, she said, losing some of her enthusiasm, “Not whoo.”

“He gets our days, let’s take back our nights! No homework, more freedom! Who’s with me?”

She jumped out of her seat to stand in the middle of the room, in front of Lucas. As cute and innocent as she seemed on the subway from afar (except for that one look she had given him the first time he saw her), now she appeared strong, fierce, and feisty. Her face was slightly flushed – he didn’t know if it was out of passion, self-consciousness because the whole class was watching her, or both, but he found himself liking it.

She started to chant loudly.

“No homework, more freedom! No homework, more freedom!”

More and more kids joined, until almost everyone was shouting the words along with her. Lucas felt a strong urge to start chanting as well, but restrained himself. He needed to behave well, get good grades, and most importantly, not get into any trouble. That meant he couldn’t join the small riot Maya had started against homework.

So, he watched with his lips sealed and his body firmly planted in his seat as Maya leaned down and said something to Riley, before she danced to the back of the classroom, waving her hands to the rhythm, like a conductor in front of an orchestra.

He watched Riley stand up hesitantly, and though he couldn’t see his face, and didn’t know her too well yet, he guessed that she had an anxious expression on her face. But her voice sounded surprisingly sure when she answered Mr. Matthews’ question about what she was doing.

“I’m making a choice about who I want to be, about whose world I want it to be.”

Mr. Matthews sounded desperate, for some reason, like she wasn’t just one of his students.

“Riley, I know you. You know exactly who you are.”

“Who am I, dad?”

 _Oh_ , Lucas realized, _so that was why Mr. Matthews was acting so strange with her_. If he was her dad, as well as her teacher, it made sense that he wouldn’t want her to get in trouble by joining Maya’s rebellion.

“You’re just like me,” Mr. Matthews answered, looking assured and hopeful.

“Yeah? Would you do this?” said Riley defiantly, then started chanting. “No homework, more freedom! No homework, more freedom!”

She walked over to the boy on Lucas’ right.

“Farkle,” _What a weird name_ , Lucas thought. “Are you with us or not? No homework, more freedom!”

The boy looked conflicted. Without waiting for his answer, Riley marched to the back of the class, following Maya, all the while chanting the four words. Maya bravely opened the door and walked out of the room, the crowd of students following behind her.

Lucas willed himself to stay still, and watched as Farkle stood in front of Mr. Matthews and asked him, desperately, “My education, or my women?”

He repeated the question several times, each time getting more and more frantic, until eventually, he passed out and fell into Mr. Matthews’ readily awaiting arms.

After that, Mr. Matthews dismissed the few kids remaining from the class.

***

Lucas stayed behind after school because he wanted to talk to Mr. Matthews. He wanted to explain things to him about his past. He didn’t want his new teacher, and the father of his only potential friend so far, to think badly of him.

He had been right before – it was mostly easy to find his way around the school, even though he had only been there for a few hours. He approached the door to the history classroom once again, and walked in to find Mr. Matthews sitting at his desk with his head in his hands, looking exhausted. He didn’t seem like he was in a good mood, so Lucas made to leave – he’d talk to him some other time.

His hand was already on the door handle, when Mr. Matthews said, in a tired voice,

“You can stay, Mr. Friar, I promise I won’t bite.”

He stopped. Looked back at the teacher uncertainly.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Come here, pull up a chair, sit down.”

Lucas did as he was told.

“And now, speak. What’s on your mind, Mr. Friar?”

“Well, sir, I wanted to… I mean, I don’t want to tell you what to do, but…”

“Yes?”

“Sir, I wanted to ask you not to tell anyone about… why I’m here,” Lucas blurted out, suddenly feeling brave. Mr. Matthews didn’t seem like the type of teacher who would get angry at him for speaking his mind, especially after he was the one who had asked Lucas to do so. He had a calming presence about him, a quality that showed that, despite his casualness, and slight goofiness, he was a good teacher.

“I wasn’t planning to, Mr. Friar. I think you have the right to decide who the people you tell about your past will be.” He paused for a moment. “Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yes. Well… no. I…”

“I don’t have all day, Mr. Friar. I have a daughter I have to take home soon, and have a serious conversation with about her behavior in class.” He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, as if the mere thought of what had happened today pained him. Then he opened them again and looked at Lucas expectantly. “Go on, you can tell me what’s really bothering you.”

“Sir, I just wanted to ask you to give me a chance to prove that I’m not…”

Lucas hesitated. Mr. Matthews’ brown eyes filled with understanding.

“…a bad guy?” he finished. Lucas nodded. “Mr. Friar, you shouldn’t even be asking me for that.”

Lucas’ face dropped. Of course. He wasn’t like most teachers, but Mr. Matthews still wouldn’t believe that someone who had been kicked out of school for breaking another student’s arm could be a good person. Mr. Matthews sighed again, catching the disappointed look in Lucas’ eyes.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant, you shouldn’t be asking me for a second chance, because you already have one. I read the report about what happened, but I also spoke with your mom. I know that there’s more to it than it seems. And until you do something to prove otherwise, I’m going to assume you’re a good guy. Whether you want to tell me what really happened or not.”

Lucas considered his teacher for a second. Mr. Matthews seemed like he would understand, and he treated Lucas lot better than his own teachers had, back in Texas, after the incident. But still, Lucas had only known him for a day. However kind he seemed, Lucas wasn’t sure if he could trust him.

He shook his head in response to the indirect question. Mr. Matthews just smiled understandingly.

“Well, I hope one day you will trust me enough to tell me, but I won’t bother you with it until then. Now, go on, it’s getting late, and you still have a history assignment to do,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, worthy of Maya. _How did this guy become a teacher?_ Lucas wondered.

“Assuming, of course, that you’re not part of the ‘No Homework, More Freedom’ movement, curtesy of the lovely Miss Hart.”

He shook his head. He didn’t seem angry, instead, he said it with a kind of fond frustration, not unlike a parent. Lucas stored away Maya’s surname in his mind – ‘Hart’, just like Maya, fit the sweetness of her appearance, but it also illustrated her passion.

Lucas was curious what kind of relationship Mr. Matthews had with Maya. He seemed to care about her more than just a student, or the best friend of his daughter. But Lucas didn’t know him well; he might be like that with everyone.

He shook his head.

“Good,” Mr. Matthews said with a nod. His voice had a joking edge to it when he said, “At least now I can be sure that there’ll be someone besides Farkle who’ll do the homework.” His tone turned serious once more. “Mr. Friar, I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

Lucas knew he didn’t mean the assignment.

“I hope so too, sir.”

“Good.” Mr. Matthews nodded again.

***

“So, how was your first day?” his mom asked, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.

She really wanted this to work out for him, she didn’t want him to end up like his dad. She was worried that if he’d get in trouble again, he’d never be accepted to a good college, and he’d have to move back to Texas, become a rancher like her father. Of course, like most people, she adored Pappy Joe, in spite of all of the man’s faults – but that future wasn’t what she wanted for her son. No, Lucas deserved to have a good life: go to medical school, become a veterinarian, and make lots of money doing what he loved – helping animals.

She was terrified of getting a call like that from the school again.

“It was okay,” Lucas said, taking a bite of lasagna. “My teachers seem nice.”

“That’s great, honey. Did you have any lessons with Mr. Matthews?”

“Yeah, I had history with him.”

“Right. He was very kind when we talked on the phone, promised to help you out if you needed anything. Oh, that reminds me! Did you find everything okay? You didn’t get lost, did you?”

Lucas shook his head.

“Good. I was worried when you texted me after 8 a.m. I knew I should’ve bought you a map...”

“It was fine, mom. The train was late.”

“Did you make any new friends?”

“Yeah, I met two girls on the subway who seemed nice.”

“Do they go to your school?”

Lucas nodded.

“Good.”

“So, how did your interview go?” Lucas asked, deciding to change the subject.

“Good. It was good. They said they would get back to me.”

“Does that mean you’re hired?”

“No, it means I don’t know yet. But here’s hoping.”

She raised her glass of orange juice like it was champagne, and smiled at him hopefully, before taking a sip.

***

Classes went by quickly, and soon, Lucas found himself in the cafeteria, getting a tray and packing food on it. The lunch lady asked if he wanted sloppy joe or chicken pot pie. He wouldn’t have minded either way, but he had always liked beef more than chicken.

“A sloppy joe, please, ma’am.”

He put the plate on his tray then grabbed a raspberry drink. Raspberry was his favorite fruit.

The previous day, the headmaster had called him into his office during lunchtime to talk to him about acceptable behavior. He allowed Lucas to get a pre-packaged sandwich from the vending machine next to his office, and let him eat it whilst he was giving the boy a lecture about growing up, and making mature decisions.

So, it was only today that Lucas was faced with the problem of where to sit. He didn’t see any empty tables where he could sit down to eat by himself, and he didn’t want to eat alone anyway. He wanted to make friends with some people, who would make him feel less lonely and help him forget about missing Zay so much. However annoying he could be, he was still Lucas’ best friend, and he missed Zay’s inappropriate comments and constant jokes.

After a few minutes of useless wandering about, he spotted a fairly empty table, with only Maya and Riley sitting at it. Maya exchanged a look with Riley, met his gaze for a second, then slid over in her seat, indicating that he could sit down in the now empty chair between the two of them. Lucas smiled at her gratefully, and headed over to their table, but before he had a chance to sit down, the boy from history class with the awful bowl cut – Farkle, Lucas reminded himself – had already thrown himself down into it.

“Ladies,” he greeted the two of them enthusiastically. Lucas turned away, not wanting to intrude.

However, because he still didn’t have a place to sit, he just aimlessly wandered over to the other side of the cafeteria, then stood awkwardly by the wall, indecisive as to what he should do next. He was standing close to the door, and he was starting to think that maybe he should just go and try to find an empty classroom, or maybe sit on the stairs – he was definitely not going to eat in the bathroom, but he also wasn’t going to throw out food, especially because he was starting to get hungry.

His mom had had another interview early in the morning, so she just left an apple out for him on the table, with ten bucks and a post-it note next to it, apologizing for having to leave early and wishing him good luck on his second day.

He had hoped to meet Maya and Riley on the subway again, maybe actually talk to Maya this time, but he didn’t see either of them. Well, at least he got off at the right stop today, but that also meant that he still didn’t have any real friends, or anyone to sit with.

He glanced over at the girls’ table. Farkle had seemingly left, because Riley was now sitting next to Maya, and the third chair was empty. He decided to take his chances. Riley had seemed to like him the day before, and Maya… well, she did give him that warm smile, just before the two girls had hopped off the subway.

The two of them were deep in conversation when he walked over. He heard Maya say, “Hey,” which Riley repeated in a slightly too high voice. He couldn’t decide if they were talking to him or not, but while Riley had her back turned to him, Maya was already looking at him with her blue eyes. She was smiling, which he took as a sign that he could sit down.

“Hey back,” he said. It was a bit lame, but Maya just raised her eyebrows at him, pushing her lips together like she was trying not to smile, and Riley gave him the same awkward-happy smile she did the day before.

“Hi,” she said again in a strange voice, her eyes not leaving his face for a second. Now Maya was full-on grinning. “You’re sitting here.”

He felt like he had interrupted something. Maybe he shouldn’t have sat down.

“Is that okay?” he asked, just to make sure they didn’t mind his presence. Riley gave him a thumbs up. She was just so cute, in a quirky kind of way, that the gesture made him smile in spite of himself. Usually, he didn’t like it when people did that, but she made it look adorable.

“Can you excuse me for just one sec?” she said, still smiling. He nodded. She turned towards Maya, and they touched their fingers together while making a weird, chirp-like sound. He wouldn’t have pegged Maya as someone who would do that sort of thing, but being friends with Riley for so long had probably rubbed off on her. When Maya had turned back towards her tray, attempting to look cool after doing something like that – a seemingly impossible feat –, and Riley turned back to him, beaming, her smile rid of the awkwardness, he suddenly heard a voice from behind.

“How you doin’?” It was Mr. Matthews, looking at Riley and Lucas with raised eyebrows and a weird smile he was probably trying to hide the pained look in his eyes with. The mortified expression on both Maya’s and Riley’s faces at seeing him amused Lucas to no end. He grinned down at his tray, then turned back to the teacher.

“Dad, you have a choice here: you could either understand that this is just a boy talking to me in the cafeteria…” Riley’s voice sounded desperate, but Maya’s disillusioned face didn’t hold much hope that Mr. Matthews was going to do that.

“I’m gonna do whatever you say next.”

“But this is so innocent!” That made Lucas look at her. The previous day, he’d figured that Riley had liked him, and that was the reason Maya was trying to set them up, but since then, he had already forgotten about that. Riley was just simply too nice, too… bubbly, to be his type. But now, hearing Riley talk about whatever relationship the two of them shared, in that context, made him realize that _she_ probably hadn’t forgotten.

“Honey, fathers don’t see anything as innocent,” Mr. Matthews explained, placing his hand on Lucas’ chest and pushing him against the back of the chair. Lucas didn’t know if he was trying to threaten him with that gesture, or simply wanted to get a better look at his daughter, but either way, it made him grin. “We see it as… What’s the opposite of innocent?”

“Right here!” Maya volunteered, raising her hand with a playful smile on her face. Mr. Matthews waved at her awkwardly, a disbelieving look on his face. This made Maya lower her hand, her lips turning down sarcastically as she looked back down at the food on her tray. She had ordered the same as him, except for the drink.

“Please don’t embarrass me,” Riley begged, to no avail. She shouldn’t have, Lucas wanted to tell her. He didn’t mind her dad’s antics, it actually made him like Mr. Matthews more. Riley didn’t know how lucky she was to have a father who cared about her enough to embarrass her in front of boys, trying to protect her from getting hurt.

And, even if he would have found her father’s behavior rude, that wouldn’t have affected the way Lucas thought about Riley. He knew better than anyone that he shouldn’t judge people based on just one aspect of their life.

“I’m just gonna talk to Mr. Friar about geography,” Mr. Matthews said defensively, then turned to Lucas. “You know, I’ve been to a lot of places. Never been to Texas, though. What part of Texas is closest to Mexico?”

Lucas didn’t know where he was going with this, but answered anyway.

“That’d be El Paso, sir.”

“Great! Let’s go right now!”

He grabbed Lucas’ chair and started to drag him outside, away from Riley and Maya. In retrospect, Lucas really should’ve expected that.

He pressed his lips together in disbelief. Mr. Matthews was definitely the strangest teacher – if not person – he’d ever met. He gave Riley an awkward little wave, and she looked back at him with a tortured expression on her face.

Lucas paid his abandoned food one last, wistful glance – he was going to have to get himself something to eat, and soon: he was starving. Then, he turned his head down towards the floor to avoid the curious looks from the other students. That little scene was probably going to be the number one topic of the school gossip today.


End file.
